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National grant to help Jacksonville reduce number of uninsured children

Cover Jacksonville, an upcoming campaign to help enroll more than 25,000 uninsured Duval County children in Medicaid or Florida Healthy Kids, will include the mayoral appointment of the city’s first health commissioner and a pilot program at three local schools.

City officials declined to provide specifics about the campaign, which was revealed Monday by the National League of Cities when it announced a $260,000 grant for the effort.

The identity of the health commissioner and other information will be unveiled at a news conference Wednesday with Clarence Anthony, the league’s executive director, and other league officials, said city spokeswoman Lauren Bankert. “Cover Jacksonville presents an excellent opportunity to improve the health of our community by ensuring families have the information they need to access affordable health care for their children. Mayor Brown looks forward to discussing the plans and goals for this effort,” she said.

The Jacksonville Children’s Commission will work with the city health commissioner to implement the campaign. According to a commision "overview," its strategies will include increasing awareness about public insurance options, via a phone bank and an online presence; establishing the United Way of Northeast Florida's 211 hot line as a single point of access for enrollment information; and identifying uninsured children through a partnership with Duval County Public Schools.

A pilot program will be established at Bartram Springs Elementary, Twin Lakes Middle School and Atlantic Coast High School to identify uninsured children through school enrollment questionnaires. Also, trained school officials will work to get those children coverage, according to the commission.

“Anytime we can provide greater access of medical coverage and care to students, it’s a win-win for the school system and the community. Too many students do not have the appropriate access to health care and we know this often prevents them from reaching their academic and civic potential," said School Superintendent Nikolai P. Vitti.

The local plan was developed by Brown, Vitti, state Rep. Mia Jones, City Council members Kimberly Daniels and Ray Holt, as well as representatives of the Children’s Commission, United Way, The Players Center for Child Health at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida.

“We are excited to receive this grant,” said the commission’s Cheryl Townsend, Cover Jacksonville project director. “We believe Jacksonville was chosen because of its history of strong collaboration as evident by the grant’s key partners who worked for six months to create the business plan.”

The league’s overall project goal is reducing uninsured children in those communities by 50 percent. But because of Jacksonville’s size, the commission decided 20 percent was a “more of a realistic goal,” said commission spokeswoman Bramley Ross.

Jacksonville and seven other cities were selected to receive league grants based on business plans they submitted in the spring. The hoped-for outcome for the cities’ children and their families will be fewer emergency room visits, lower health care costs and healthier children who perform better in school.

“Each of the cities chosen had a rigorous business plan that detailed a clear path forward to drive down the rate of the uninsured in their communities,” said Anthony, in a news release issued by the League. “There are clear benefits to the program with healthier kids meaning better high school and college completion rates and financial savings for the community.”

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

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For more information, contact Cheryl Townsend at cherylt@coj.net or (904) 630-6405.